Confused about processing and printing sizes

[Claire Pacelli]

Hello my question is going to be very general in hopes I get a wide range of responces that may actually get me to fully understand how to do this.

Im a newbie to photography - for now Im starting a small on location portrait business - hoping to grow over the years with proper training and investment into wedding photography. However I am currently stuck with one issue I cannot seem to find a direct answer to.

Dimensions. An example from Ritchie Herbert of Ingolstadt, Germany:

As you see he cropped the people out of the right side but the dimentions stayed exactly the same... how do I do this - how do I know how to crop or what dimensions to use for proofs for clients - for blogs - for prints?

It may seem like a novice question - but I cannot seem to find a direct answer to it. Please help.

Thanks in advance

ps: Guy used the following Lightroom presets to create this effect
Lightroom Presets recipe from Ritchie Herbert of Ingolstadt, Germany:
Slight Crop to get peeps out of background
Golden Age | Lite
Highlight Recovery
Vignette | Michelangelo
Boogie Nights | Lite
Sharp Cheddar
Make Up Brush on Skin (loaded from Local Adjustment Presets brushes

 

[Big Mike]

As you see he cropped the people out of the right side but the dimentions stayed exactly the same... how do I do this - how do I know how to crop or what dimensions to use for proofs for clients - for blogs - for prints?

If you look carefully, the other sides are also cropped as well. So they simply used the same size ratio and just cropped the photo a bit smaller...with a slight bias to cut more from the right side.

As for what ratio to use for proofs, blog, prints etc. That's up to you...there is no right answer. Just to make it easy, many photographers just keep the 2:3 (4x6) ratio that their camera shoots in. For web viewing, anything goes and you can crop to what looks best.
For prints, you obviously crop to what the clients want/order. 4x6 is different than 5x7 which is different from 8x10 and so on.

The software on my website, that I use for my client print ordering, actually shows them a preview of the different print size/ratio. It's automatic and just crops to the middle, so it's not exactly as the final print might be...but it should give them the general idea that if they order an 8x10, it won't look the same as the 4x6 proof.